Most people don’t spend enough time thinking about estate planning. Some think they are too young to worry about estate planning, others don’t think they have enough of an estate to bother planning for so they never get around to it. The truth is that estate planning is an essential tool to help you distribute your assets and reduce disputes among your family once you have passed away. Not providing legal arrangements can become a devastating and painful mistake for spouses, children, and friends afterward.
Here are some common and famous examples of what can happen when you don’t engage in proper estate planning.
Second Wife Doesn’t Get Along With Sons
The father wants to pass on everything to his sons, going so far as to create a living trust for his sons. However, he does not transfer his new residence into the trust. After he dies, his wife takes the residence as the surviving joint tenant. The wife also takes possession of bank accounts and retirement accounts that he also forgot to change the named beneficiary for. The sons and the wife are now fighting over control of these assets. Some of the property within the residence was explicitly given to the sons, but the wife will not allow them on the premises.
This situation creates a costly legal dispute that last for years.
Mother and Disabled Daughter
The mother dies and does not create any type of trust or will. The daughter on disability receives all of her assets, including retirement accounts, because she is named as the beneficiary. These assets make the daughter ineligible for her disability and government healthcare benefits. The daughter does not know what to do, doesn’t take the required disbursements from the retirement accounts, and starts accumulating tax penalties. Her attorney has to petition the court to set up a special needs trust to help her manage the assets.
Chief Justice Writes His Own Will
The chief justice, rather than hiring an experienced estate planning attorney, writes his own will. He makes several mistakes and his estate ends up having to go to probate. During the lengthy probate process, his family pays additional taxes and fees that add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Like the adage goes, a person who represent himself has a fool for a client.
Elvis Presley Has No Estate Plan
One of the most famous celebrity estate planning failures. Elvis does not make proper legal arrangements to distribute his estate, leaving a large amount of his assets to go through a probate process. Because of the length and expense of the process, his estate is reduced by over 70%. His family paid millions of dollars in taxes, fees, and legal costs. All of which could have been avoided.
Don’t Fear!
Even if you think it is too early to set up your estate plan, you should start looking into your options now. There are countless examples of what can happen if you don’t make the proper arrangements while you still have time. The attorneys at Clear Counsel Law Group can help explain the common ways to distribute your estate and help you write your estate planning documents. If you are interested in creating a will, establishing a trust, or creating power of attorney documents give us a call today.
